Going Under
by Ava Turner
Summary: Cole is back once again, but insanity has taken him over. He strikes at the Charmed Ones because he now despises the witches that turned him good but then turned against him. Can Phoebe reach out to him again?
1. Prologue

**Author –** Ava Turner.

**Copyright issues -** No copyright infringement intended. Original characters and plotline copyright to me, though "Charmed" characters and references belong to The WB and Spelling Productions.

**Plot -** It's an AU, branching off from Cole's latest vanquish. Elements from when Cole was in his last days will be here (like Piper pregnant with Wyatt), as well as future elements that are in the show now (I'm planning to introduce Chris, the guy from the latest season).

Prologue 

Just as easily he came back from Hell the last time, he came back again. One difference – he didn't go look for the witch who vanquished him. It was just as easy, but so much longer. Evil was being cautious, not as many demons were being vanquished. Not many demons were leaving powers behind.

They say third time is a charm. He'd been killed only two times, should he hang around for a third? Nah. He probably wouldn't come back. How many times could he elude death?

Time to awaken for what he was meant for. His mother had only bee with his father so he could easily slip into the humans' world, with his human form. Much easier to get to targets, to live amongst the enemy. Though damn her for making him have a heart. For giving him the ultimate vulnerability.

A voice was nagging at him that the love for that witch was the only thing that let him survive in the hellpit. What he was about to come wouldn't have that safeguard.

One thing about evil was that evil wasn't so picky about who to accept to be a true force of their cause. Good had so many damn parameters, he could never make it there.

Ah, live and learn. That was a human phrase. One he remembered. To learn from death was something not many people got to do.

--

Paige sat in the quiet house. If she didn't know better, she would think it was empty. She knew both her sisters were in their rooms, most probably crying.

Phoebe would be either rushing to get her work finished before her six o'clock deadline. Thank god for the Internet and Email, otherwise she would have been fired long ago. Phoebe still thought it was a matter of time; her work was slumping every week. She hated that in the Underworld her newly awakened ex-husband still used the name "Cole". It was much easier to hate the red and black demon named Belthazor.

Cole had known Phoebe would be affected by him, and the next vulnerable of the three was Piper. He didn't bother with Paige, one sister at full strength wasn't enough to foil his enter back into he game. Paige shook her head, he was smarter then they ever gave him credit for. He knew he had to get at them through the human emotions.

Just like Phoebe had gotten to him.

He would move around things in Piper's room, use mind control to give her horrifying dreams. The fact he was there while she was sleeping really made Piper edgy. He even went as far to shapeshift Leo, comfort her and then reveal himself. Piper wouldn't sleep, wouldn't get out of her room. Only a month before her baby was due, she had a miscarriage. It devastated Piper.

So now Paige was left without two sisters. They were like shells and she hated Cole. Hated him to the ends of the Earth. She would destroy him.

What got to Paige most was he was the only demon that knew everything about them. It wouldn't be that hard for him to destroy them piece-by-piece. They had to get to Cole first.

Without her sisters, she was like a fly stuck in a web. Helpless.

--

Cole had just killed an innocent in an alley - she was a future Whitelighter. The Charmed Ones had just rushed into the alley from the street and stopped dead in their tracks. He dropped the lifeless body onto the floor. They just stopped.

Paige threw the potion. He let it hit him.

"In for a game, ladies?" he sneered. "I promise it'll be entertaining."

They whispered something and took out a piece of paper. They read the spell.

Using another new power, he projected words into their minds right before he flamed out.

_Keep one eye open, when you sleep, my darlings._


	2. Cole's Struggle

**Chapter 1**

Jal hadn't been an Elder long, only a couple hundred years, but she still knew a thing or two about the world. She knew of the prophecy that spoke of a child born to be both good and evil. Many had theories about the youngest Charmed one and the new demon that was after the three.. Even before he had reached San Francisco some had told this was the one.

Then the Source interfered and killed off the eldest. Some thought this was the end of the prophecy. Some thought it would still happen.

It didn't.

She watched him through a golden orb saw his lip curl up as he mocked the Charmed Ones. This was not how it was supposed to be. What evil had changed their destined pathway?

Jalil turned her head as she heard someone approach.

"You're aura stinks, Jalil" he said.

"Oh, thanks" she laughed at him. He was the one that had been here the longest, but surprisingly the most fun.

"You know what I mean," he paused, wondering if she would listen. "You know it's against the rules to interfere."

"You know me better then everyone here," she laughed "I do as I please."

"I know," he whispered. "This one can't be helped. He's too far gone. If it is meant to be it'll happen".

"Maybe I'm just _meant_ to interfere. Maybe that's what destiny holds"

"Your learning child!" he laughed. "Predicting the future is a fickle thing. You will fail, though".

"Live and learn," she whispered.

--

A can of worms had been opened. He just couldn't suppress his human side again. Meeting Phoebe had opened Pandora's box.

He would go to dark priests and they would conjure the darkest magik they could to overcome his human side. Sometimes for a day or two he would feel free, but he always would come back in the end.

Being near _them_ didn't help. He wanted them gone. Dead. He'd destroyed Piper. Phoebe was still upset. Paige was depressed at the state of her life. It was now, the time to act.

All he would do is hide in the shadows. "Now!" he harshly whispered to himself. He shimmered.

He was in the corner of Paige's room. She pulled strands of hair from her face. She swirled her long hair and clipped it back. He threw the energy ball.

He convinced himself he didn't realize she would deflect it. He hadn't taken it easy on her. She orbed. Of course, she would orb. He was alone.

The scene before him seemed to slow down and speed up. Time stood still. He should get out; he was outnumbered and no longer had the element of surprise.

The creak of the floorboard. He slowly turned. She was there. Phoebe. Piper and Paige closely behind. This was unnatural, time kept stopping and starting. Why did they affect him like this?

He shimmered out.

He grabbed his head and cursed. Damn them! Damn him. He would never admit it, but he knew. He didn't want to kill them, not really. Knew he had to. He should have done more to eliminate Paige. Not some stupid energy ball. Though then a voice nagged him and reminded him it was stupid to go after the strongest one. Piper was the easiest.

He heard her voice. "This is a dream. I'm not here. You're haunting my dreams again."

He turned and saw Phoebe there. Cursed.

Another chance all the same.

She shivered in the cold of his den. She had the apricot colored nightgown that Phoebe told him had been passed down from her Grams to her Mom, to Prue. Eventually to her. Her eyes were wide. Frightened.

He had an urge to cradle her and tell her she was okay.

He fought the urge. _Eliminate her!_, a searing voice demanded. _She will corrupt you again!_

The problem was, you know those days when the evil within him was suppressed and he was "corrupted"?

Those were the best days of his life.


	3. The Underworld

**Chapter 2**  
  
He sat there and started at her. She was biting her fingernails. She was scared of him, he could tell.  
  
Cole was confused why Phoebe was here. Why he couldn't get away. Shimmering wouldn't work. Well he would shimmer out but would shimmer right back where he started.  
  
The longer Cole thought about it, the more sure he was that this was a test. He didn't do this and he was certain that Phoebe didn't either. They must be there for a reason, and it was too much a coincidence that he couldn't get out and Phoebe had followed him.  
  
She interrupted his thoughts. "Please let me go home." Phoebe searched his ice-cold eyes for any sign of warmth at all. She thought she saw a flicker, but as quickly as it had come, it was gone. She wasn't even sure if she really saw it or if it was her imagination.  
  
He slammed his two hands onto the nearby wall open palmed and hard. Very hard. He was nearly thrown back and realized he had absentmindedly conjured two energy balls as he slammed his open palms on the wall. His shoulders felt like they had been ripped from their sockets and he cursed again.  
  
"Do you do anything but curse?" she snapped at him.  
  
"Do you do anything but find faults in every single action I have ever made?" he yelled at her.  
  
She jumped, startled. It wasn't really a yell, more like a roar. Phoebe was scared, she knew Cole used to love her and would never hurt her, but he'd become a monster, and even worse, unpredictable.  
  
"What is the point of this?" he muttered to himself. He went back to his thought to when they were previously interrupted all the while glaring at the girl in the room. _That's all she is, a girl._  
  
Like every other girl he's ever faced and killed.  
  
_Right, let's get back on track._ Someone wanted them here, so it had to be a test. This would be in no way a freak of nature. This _had_ to be planned.  
  
Had to be, because if there was no purpose of this, he _would not_ be stuck with her forever. His thoughts were jumbled and he was surprised when a memory of his training with the marines came to life.  
  
"Rule number one" Captain Barnaby was saying "is knowing what you enemy wants. Whatever they want, you want to counter."  
  
_Nah_, Cole thought, _If I give them what they want, it'll be the end of this torture and I can finally leave._  
  
"To know what they want, you need to know who they are. French paratroopers are going to want something difference from Russian terrorists."  
  
So who was doing this? There were three sides; good, evil, and neutral. Evil was obviously the striking and most obvious option. She was one of the best good witches in history, she was weak and venerable at the moment.  
  
So kill her. Can't be that hard, right? She didn't have a deflection power like Paige, and couldn't stop his attack like Piper when freezing time. Her guard was down; she wasn't even looking at her.  
  
Cole had decided long ago that this was an end of an era. The phase of his life where he flirted with the other side of the cause had to be over. She would end it all.  
  
He fought with himself internally. What the hell was wrong? He'd been doing fine, scaring Piper and destroying Phoebe bit by bit. He never felt all of this before. Why the hell now?  
  
He could do the job but never finish it. Cole looked down into his hand and saw the energy ball form.  
  
He threw it at her.  
  
--  
  
"Where did she go?" Paige demanded. Leo shrugged. "Probably somewhere in the Underworld. I can sense she's alive, but I don't know where she is."  
  
"I'm going to kill that son of a--" Paige started but stopped when she realized Piper was crying. Leo hugged her.  
  
"My family is falling apart," Piper whispered. "Prue was always so much better at being the eldest."  
  
"Piper." Leo and Paige said at the same time. Paige paused, but Leo continued. "_Our_ family is not falling apart, it's being destroyed. There is nothing more --"  
  
"Prue would have found a way".  
  
--  
  
"You tried to kill me!" Phoebe Halliwell yelled at her ex husband. "You bastard!" "I'm evil, honey, what do you expect?"  
  
"Don't _ever_ call me that!" she shouted. "I am not your honey! I can't believe you tried to kill me." Phoebe was stunned. Somehow, previously it sounded unbelievable. He'd try to kill her sisters, but never her.  
  
"As if you haven't tried.. Wait, scratch that. You _did_ kill me!" Cole yelled. "You're so self centered. Hypocritical! I can't try to kill you, but you can try to kill me? What a hell of a relationship we've got going."  
  
"We don't have _any_ relationship _going_!"  
  
"Hence the try to kill part."  
  
Phoebe studied his face. Finally he was showing emotion and didn't have an ice-cold gleam in his eye. He actually was hurting.  
  
Good. 


	4. Marriage Counseling

**Chapter 3**

"Jal, your plan is hardly working" Raven giggled. "All their doing is trying to kill each other."

"I've heard the first step in marriage counseling is to get the problems out in the open."

Raven giggled. "All the Dr Phil shows I have ever watched says shouting is not a solution. And they're not married anymore."

"It's a start." Jal said. "They'll eventually bore at the yelling part."

"Eventually don't seem too soon. They'll kill each other first."

--

Piper's mouth was gaping out when she saw the figure standing in front of her. She had used the summoning spell thinking Grams or Mom could give her some advice but couldn't believe it when she saw her sister there. Prue was corporeal.

"Don't just stand there! Give your big sis a hug!" Prue said smiling. Piper rushed forward and held her sister the longest hug.

Prue even gave Paige a quick hug. "Here's the baby sister I've heard so much about," she said winking. "I hear I have to save my other baby sister."

"All we have to do is find her", Leo said, "We should be able to orb there easily."

As Prue picked up a pen and started scribbling a spell Piper said "I still can't believe your actually here. Not even all ghostly."

"There!" Prue exclaimed. "God, I've missed doing this."

As they recited the spell and the two Whitelighters, Leo and Paige, suddenly knew where they had to go.

--

Cole was relieved they were no longer shouting at each other because he was getting a migraine. She was still carrying on though, and he was plain sick of it. Sick of her whining.

"You have no idea how bad my life is right now. And it is all _your fault_," Phoebe rambled.

"Right," he muttered. "Every single one of your problems is my fault."

"They are!" she pouted. Phoebe winced as she realized how childish she sounded. He could always reduce her to nothing. Every single time.

"You are a control freak."

"Excuse me?" Phoebe sharply asked. "What did you say?"

"Control freak. Move Heaven and Earth for things to be predictable and when something goes even the slightest thing goes wrong, point the finger at someone else."

Cole sighed. Pointless. Why was he even arguing with her? She would never see – or refused to see – anything else except what she conned herself to believe. What frustrated Cole more then that was why he even cared what she thought. He was past this. He _had_ to be past _her_.

"Do you get off at making my life _crap_?" Phoebe snapped.

He rolled his eyes. He was too tired to fight.

"You killed my nephew." He rolled his eyes again. "You distraught my sister." Cole avoided her eyes as she continued. "You haunt me every day." She paused and finished off her spiel "I hate you."

"So mature. A speech of a five year old!" he got up and cornered her. "You can take it that I'm not moaning in the basement anymore begging for you to take me back."

His face was centimeters away from hers.

"I would never take you back," she told him. Secretly she wished he wouldn't do this. She squirmed away from him. It was too much like every time he would lean down and kiss her. She half wished he would. _No. I will not fall back in love with the evil bastard who killed my nephew._

"Are you scared, Phoebe?"

"Are you suicidal?"

"Only when you're around, darling."

He stared at her and she stared at him.

He yelped and fell to the ground.

Phoebe looked at the smoke from his back and saw Paige, Piper and Leo. Paige threw another potion and Piper finally threw the last. Cole grunted as he got up. His eyes flashed with anger.

"Come on, honey" Piper urged signaling at Phoebe to come to her. "Let's get out of here."

Phoebe rushed to her sisters. He cried out as he threw an energy ball, somehow mad that they were taking her away. He wanted to make Phoebe more afraid. She _had_ to pay for what she did to him.

He thought the energy ball would fail as he saw most of the blue light disappear. A figure was knocked out of the orb and fell to the ground.

Piper looked up and Cole nearly fell sorry for her. She looked as scared as a trapped rabbit. He tried to shimmer and couldn't. _Why the hell could they orb out? Why couldn't he shimmer? Who was tampering with _his_ powers?_

He threw two energy balls at the wall as hard as he could. The ground shook.

Piper whimpered some more.


End file.
